Somalia Govt warns US over al-Shabaab uranium traffic with Iran

While North Korea has successfully executed its sixth nuclear test, the fact that al-Shabaab's Islamic extremists would have captured critical surface exposed uranium deposits in the autonomous Galmudug region and are strip mining triuranium octoxide for transport to Iran, takes on an even more disturbing tone.

All of these precedents could support the credibility of Yusuf Garaad Omar's warning to the US ambassador to Mogadishu, although some analysts believe that the letter, written with obvious emphasis, could be a means of receiving a larger support from the United States in the opposition of al-Shabaab.

Severe criticism of AMISOM

The reading of the letter is also struck by the harsh criticism of the Somali Foreign Minister regarding the mission of the African Union in Somalia (AMISOM), which in the document is defined as incapable of neutralizing the twofold threat posed by al-Shabaab and its faction, which since October 2015 has tied itself to the Islamic State.

That the peacekeeping mission has problems is not new. This is confirmed by the fact that according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies based in Washington, al-Shabaab last year became the deadliest jihadist group in Africa, with more than 4,200 people killed.

Despite AMISOM's counterterrorism activities, the terrorist group has proven to be capable he terrorist group has been shown to be capable of mortar attacks even under numerical inferiority, thanks to the use of heavy weapons, armoured vehicles and explosive.

All this would explain the reasons why in the last few months the US has triggered a new military offensive against the Islamist group, also launching air attacks with the support of Somali special forces against al-Shabaab training camps.

A renewed commitment, according to analysts, reflects the growing concern that the branch of al-Qaeda in eastern Africa is strengthening to organize a large-scale attack against Western targets.

And it is increasingly evident that with the semblance of a relatively stable government in Mogadishu, the United States now tries to integrate Somalia into its plans to expand East Africa's control.